Do outside temperature and sunlight duration influence the outcome of laser refractive surgery? Results from the Hamburg Weather Study

Abstract

Ines Neuhaus-Richard,1 Andreas Frings,1 Isabel Caroline Görsch,1 Vasyl Druchkiv,1 Toam Katz,1,2 Stephan Johannes Linke,1,2 Gisbert Richard11Department of Ophthalmology, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, 2Care Vision Refractive Centers, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hamburg, GermanyPurpose: To examine the impact of temperature and sunlight duration on refractive and visual outcome of laser-assisted in situ keratomileusis (LASIK) in myopic eyes.Setting: University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Germany, and Care Vision Refractive Centers, Germany.Design: Retrospective, cross-sectional data analysis.Methods: This study comprised 1,052 eyes of 1,052 consecutive myopic patients (419 males, 633 females; mean age at surgery 35.0±9.0 years) with a mean preoperative refractive spherical equivalent (SE) of -3.88±1.85 diopters (D). Two subgroups were defined, comprising patients undergoing surgery during either meteorological winter or summer. Manifest refraction, uncorrected, and corrected distant visual acuity (UDVA and CDVA) were assessed pre- and postoperatively. We applied robust regression analysis with efficiency index (EI), safety index (SI), and postoperative SE (in D) as dependent variables.Results: At the 1-month (33.0±5.0 days) follow-up, the mean postoperative SE was -0.18±0.44 D. Bivariate comparisons showed that statistically significant better EI was related to days with lower temperature. We obtained a significant difference for SI which suggested that low temperature had a positive influence on SI. No change by more than one line on LogMAR scale was obtained.Conclusion: Although being statistically significant, there was no clinically relevant difference in the outcome of LASIK, which demonstrates its highly standardized quality. Prospective, longitudinal studies are warranted to address meteorotropic reactions through evaluating defined meteorological parameters.Keywords: temperature, sunlight, refractive surgery, weather, Lasik